What is Dovecot used for?

Dovecot is an open-source IMAP and POP3 mail server known for security and performance, with a commercial Dovecot Pro edition. It is a good fit for mailbox access for self-hosted email and mail infrastructure for hosting providers.

Is Dovecot open source?

Yes. Dovecot is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at dovecot/core and is written mainly in C.

Yes. Dovecot is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence.

Can I self-host Dovecot?

Yes. Dovecot can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.

What are some alternatives to Dovecot?

Similar open-source tools in the Email Clients & Servers category include docker-mailserver, Mail-in-a-Box and Mailu. SaaS products in the same category include Axigen, AgentTeamEmail and AOL Mail.

Is Dovecot actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Dovecot was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is 2.4.5, published on 28 August 2026. The project has 1.3k stars on GitHub.

Dovecot: open-source email clients & servers

About Dovecot

Dovecot is an open-source email server written in C. Its repository topics list IMAP4, POP3, submission, LMTP and SMTP, so it handles the mailbox access and delivery side of an email system. The project describes the Community Edition as secure by design, fully standards-compliant, high-performance and easy to migrate to, with a history that began with its first release in 2002.

The Community Edition is distributed under the LGPLv2.1 license with a few exceptions. The website also presents Dovecot Pro, a supported, comprehensive and high-availability platform aimed at demanding service providers, and a Pigeonhole add-on for mail filtering. The latest release listed is 2.4.5, announced together with Pigeonhole in 2026.

The repository README is brief and points to INSTALL.md for installation, the online documentation for configuration, and a list of implemented RFCs. Questions go to the Dovecot mailing list, which accepts posts without subscribing, though messages wait in a moderation queue. Security advisories are announced on the website alongside releases.

Key features

IMAP4 and POP3 mailbox access
LMTP delivery and submission support
Standards-compliant mail server
Pigeonhole for mail filtering
Security advisories published by the project

Good fit for

→Mailbox access for self-hosted email
→Mail infrastructure for hosting providers

Built with: C
Tags: imap; pop3; mail-server; email; lmtp; smtp; self-hosted; dovecot

Dovecot: questions and answers

What is Dovecot used for?: Dovecot is an open-source IMAP and POP3 mail server known for security and performance, with a commercial Dovecot Pro edition. It is a good fit for mailbox access for self-hosted email and mail infrastructure for hosting providers.
Is Dovecot open source?: Yes. Dovecot is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at dovecot/core and is written mainly in C.
Is Dovecot free?: Yes. Dovecot is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence.
Can I self-host Dovecot?: Yes. Dovecot can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.
What are some alternatives to Dovecot?: Similar open-source tools in the Email Clients & Servers category include docker-mailserver, Mail-in-a-Box and Mailu. SaaS products in the same category include Axigen, AgentTeamEmail and AOL Mail.
Is Dovecot actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Dovecot was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is 2.4.5, published on 28 August 2026. The project has 1.3k stars on GitHub.